OPSWAT buys Bayshore assets enhancing its CIP capabilities to OT, ICS environments

CIP capabilities

Critical Infrastructure Protection company OPSWAT purchased on Monday all assets of Bayshore Networks to provide CIP capabilities to operational technology (OT) and industrial control systems (ICS) environments, for an undisclosed amount. 

OPSWAT will add Bayshore’s industrial infrastructure protection technology to enable industrial organizations to expand their comprehensive suite of CIP capabilities and support client demand, delivering on OPSWAT’s mission to provide best-in-class cybersecurity solutions to protect critical infrastructure. 

The acquisition of Bayshore’s assets will add key capabilities in both unidirectional and bidirectional secure data transfer in critical networks, intrusion prevention for industrial devices, and provide secure remote access for OT assets. 

CIP capabilities typically require a multi-faceted approach that secures both the physical and virtual infrastructure systems. A strong critical infrastructure risk management plan starts with an assessment of current and potential risks to the critical infrastructure system, which are ranked from most to least significant so that organizations can allocate resources accordingly. 

Headquartered in San Francisco, California, OPSWAT’s technologies are used by over 1,500 global organizations across various segments, including financial services, defense, manufacturing, energy, aerospace, and transportation systems, to secure their files and devices, ensure compliance with industry and government-driven policies and regulations, and protect their reputation, finances, employees and relationships from cyber-driven disruption.

“This acquisition furthers our commitment to provide organizations worldwide with the most comprehensive critical infrastructure protection solutions available today,” said Benny Czarny, OPSWAT founder and CEO, in a blog post. “Over the last few months, we have hit several corporate and product milestones, including raising a $125 million round of financing, expanding our channel program to over 80 countries, and introducing our breakthrough cybersecurity kiosk for critical infrastructure protection.”

“Over the last decade, Bayshore Networks has provided state-of-the-art cybersecurity solutions for OT/ICS environments,” said Kevin Senator, former CEO of Bayshore Networks and current OPSWAT consultant. “Extending OPSWAT’s powerful platform to OT is a natural next step for both companies. Not only will we meet very specific cybersecurity demands in the industry, but the synergy between our companies will be truly extraordinary. I have no doubt that our employees and our technology will thrive at OPSWAT.”

There has been an overall rise in the number of cybersecurity and ransomware attacks that target the industrial infrastructure environments, such as the Colonial Pipeline attack and Florida water supply attack. The heightened threat level needs an elevated security focus, as such types of operational and critical infrastructure environments can have catastrophic outcomes. 

“Cyber criminals have begun targeting the industrial and manufacturing sectors. These criminal groups are betting that businesses operating in these sectors are generally more willing to pay large ransoms to regain control of their systems,” according to a recent Mondaq blog post. “The potential downtime caused by a ransomware attack not only costs the affected company massive amounts of money but can leave large swaths of the population without essential services until the breach is resolved,” it added.

“To further compound the problem, criminals, unfortunately, do not need sophisticated technology or extensive resources to carry out such attacks. Many firewalls and virtual private networks used by businesses, even those with vast resources and security teams, still contain vulnerabilities that groups like DarkSide are all too willing and able to exploit,” according to the Mondaq blog.

OPSWAT had in December 2019 acquired Impulse, a Tampa, Florida-based cybersecurity firm focused on providing Network Access Control (NAC) solutions and Software-Defined Perimeter (SDP) capabilities to a range of industries, including financial services, energy, higher education and government agencies.

A complimentary guide to the who`s who in industrial cybersecurity tech & solutions

Free Download

Related